Procurement Intern (Co-Manufacturing)

Ready for more than just a job? Build a career with purpose.

At Lactalis in the USA, we’re committed to providing meaningful opportunities for our people to learn, grow, and thrive—whether you’re just starting your journey with us or looking to take the next step in your career. From day one, we offer the tools and support to help you succeed.

As the world leader in dairy, Lactalis is a family-owned company with over 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals across the globe. Each day, we’re proud to produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together.

In the US, we proudly offer an unrivaled house of beloved brands, including Galbani® Italian cheeses and ricotta, Président® specialty cheeses and butters, Kraft® natural and grated cheeses, Breakstone’s® cottage cheese, Cracker Barrel®, Black Diamond® cheddar, and Parmalat® milk. Our yogurt portfolio includes siggi’s®, Stonyfield Organic®, Brown Cow™, Oui®, Yoplait®, Go-Gurt®, :ratio®, Green Mountain Creamery®, and Mountain High®, along with a growing family of ethnic favorites like Karoun®, Gopi®, and Arz®.

At Lactalis, we live by our core values—Ambition, Engagement, and Simplicity. We foster a workplace where innovation thrives, diverse perspectives are celebrated, and everyone’s unique background and ideas are valued.

Even if you don’t meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We want to hear about your PASSION, your STORY, and how your EXPERTISE can help us shape the future of dairy.

From your PASSION to ours

Lactalis USA, part of the Lactalis family of companies, is currently hiring a Procurement Intern based in Buffalo, NY.

This is a paid internship. The Intern will be required to work full-time, 20-40 hours per week for a 1-year duration. As a Procurement intern, you will work within our Direct Procurement team based in Buffalo, NY, including but not limited to: Category Management, Procurement Project Management and Strategic Sourcing on Co-Manufacturing, as well as performing a variety of administrative functions and tasks in assisting the Co-Manufacturing Procurement manager.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

Key responsibilities for this position include:

• Category management
  • Implement database on finished goods and upstream materials
  • Implement database on vendor and prospects
  • Budget/Estimate support: implement new tools for budget preparation, follow monthly purchasing price variance (PPV) and risk and ops, etc.
  • Support Global Coman Process implementation
  • Support free cash-flow improvements (payment terms, inventory management/order patterns, etc.)
  • Identify category simplification: rationalization, internalization
• Vendor management
  • Assisting in negotiating supplier pricing
  • Support vendor assessment implementation with internal stakeholders
  • Support Quality/Legal Regulation implementation
  • Follow price updates
  • Ensure business continuity and vendor KPIs (supply chain, quality, etc.)
• Project management and support
  • Identify cost savings project (value analysis, product optimization, etc.)
  • Support upstream project implementation (raw materials, packaging, ingredients, etc.)
  • Update saving tracker purchasing tool
  • Support project development and implementation (savings, innovation)

From your STORY to ours

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

Education

• Pursuing Bachelor’s Degree in Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance, Business, Operations Management or other related field is required.
• Preferred Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.

Experience

• Preferred Procurement or related internship/co-op experience or related course work.

Certifications and specific knowledge

• Demonstrate strong communication skills, persuasive abilities, leadership capabilities and strong analytical skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to work well within a team and communicate effectively.
• Strong orientation towards accuracy, quality and focus on details.
• Proactive in tasks and meeting deadlines.
• Able to work efficiently in a fast paced, team environment with a strong sense of urgency and understanding of priorities.
• Team player, understanding the needs, requirements, and priorities of other functional groups.
• Experience working with Microsoft Office Suite- advance proficiency required in MS Excel and MS PowerPoint.

At Lactalis, we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards Program with a variety of affordable benefits and coverage options. We support insurance costs significantly, contribute generously to retirement plans, and offer Paid Time Off from day one. We are committed to your professional growth, providing training and development opportunities, including Education Reimbursement. Join us and grow your career.

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities. Further, any division of the Company that is an Affirmative Action Employer will comply with all related legal obligations.